Will a 10-minute parking zone help improve his customer base? Pedro Rojas, the new manager at Delicateses La Plaza on Folsom is hoping for a one-car short-term parking zone at 2598 Folsom Street.
Delicateses La Plaza—formerly known as Casa Guadalupe—is the newly minted grocery store now reorganized to include drip coffee, organic produce and other high-end staples.
Rojas’s request will be heard Friday at 10 a.m. at the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) under City Hall’s Color Curb Program, which determines where red no-parking zones, blue disabled-parking zones, yellow loading and unloading zones and the green 10-minute parking zones go.
“Customers all the time complain that there’s no place to park and suppliers too when they visit and check how things are going with their products,” said Rojas, who recently entered the grocery business after moving from Venezuela. “There’s no parking spots nearby. If you want to shop here, it’s hard to park your car.”
With a yellow Muni bus curb the length of six cars already on one side of the market, the curb on the store’s other side is often filled with cars, he says.
Rojas said that at present, only people who live in the vicinity of La Plaza are shopping at the store. He hopes that the proposed 10-minute parking zone will expand his customer base.
The 10-minute zone, he said, “is not enough” but it’s better than nothing.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have a parking lot,” he said. “For us, this will be the best we can do.”
Stacey Baker, who has lived next door to the grocery store for two years, said there will be obvious winners and losers in losing the permanent parking spots.
“There is already a dearth of parking in the area, especially if you don’t have a permit,” said Baker, who parks her car in her garage. “But it’s probably good for the businesses if it’ll increase their traffic.”
Across the street, Isaac’s Market has been on the corner on Folsom and 22nd streets for more than 40 years. The family-owned convenience store doesn’t think they will be significantly affected by the proposed parking changes. However, they still see how the loss of coveted parking could stir discontent among neighbors.
“To be honest, it could be an advantage to the business,” said the store owner Isaac, who declined to give his full name. “But it could be a disadvantage for the people in the neighborhood, the locals that need a parking space to run errands or eat at a restaurant.”
Nearby, Raul Flores loaded clothes into a washer and scrubbed his tennis shoes at the Drop N’ Wash Laundromat on the other side of the street. As a 40-year Mission District resident, he views the proposed changes as a plus for an already car-packed street.
“I’m sure some people are going to like it but there will be haters,” Flores said. “For the most part, if it helps this place from getting congested, go for it.”
how is a store on the south east corner have a northside???
😛
Good point. Thank you, lc
Starts the conversation.
Do you think that parking is easier or harder than it used to be??